


Shaking Hands and a Bleeding Heart

by Cinder



Series: Whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2020-11-10 15:16:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20853890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder/pseuds/Cinder
Summary: Harry Greenwood would go to any lengths to save someone he loves.*Day 1 of Whumptober: "Shaking Hands"Day 8 of Whumptober: "Stab Wound"





	1. Chapter 1

Harry’s hands shook as he laid out the final parts of the summoning circle. Sigils drawn in his blood, charms decorating the edges of the circle, and, finally, the finishing element. 

Carter’s teddy. His pride and joy, the stuffed bear that Harry had bought for him just days after bringing him home from his birth in the hospital. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of stealing his son’s favorite toy – poor Carter had wasted energy he didn’t have to spare on fretting over where his “lost” bear was – but if this worked… Maybe Carter would live to forgive him. 

Harry placed the bear in the center of the circle, and took a step back to make sure it was dead center. For a few minutes, he simply worried, stepping forward to make small adjustments to the circle, then stepping back before he could touch anything. Finally, he took a deep breath, and forced himself to stop worrying and simply light the candles. 

For the first six candles, nothing happened. Then, as the flame touched the wick of the last one, the lights flared. Harry jumped back, eyes wide. 

The lights grew higher and higher, brighter and brighter, higher and brighter than they should have. The flames grew, until finally, they turned back towards the center of the circle, twining and twisting around each other, like a long, burning braid. 

Harry’s back was fully against the wall, eyes wide with terror, sweat beading on his brow from the heat and fear. As he was standing there, trembling, attempting to figure out what to do, the braid began to untangle itself. The flames fell away, smoke emerging from them. The smoke hung in the air as the flames went back to the candles, where they turned back into small, tamable lights. 

As the lights flickered happily and Harry’s heart began to resume beating, a figure emerged from the smoke. 

A woman. 

Dressed in a white silk dress, her hair pulled back with a golden band, she gazed around the room. Her imperious gaze swept over the sigils painted on the floor, the worn furniture, the frightened man pressed up against the wall. Then, finally, her eyes focused on Carter’s teddy bear. She knelt down and picked up the toy. For a second, she simply looked at it, and her eyes gentled. Then she looked back to Harry. 

“You summoned me,” she said. 

Harry, still shaking, knelt (or, more accurately, fell) on the floor. 

“G-great demon, queen of death, guardian of the dead, I have s-s-summoned you to ask – beg- for your eyes to raise up from the fades and look on one of the living with mercy.” 

“My business isn’t with the living,” the demon said. 

“The favor I have to beg is for someone who would soon be one of yours,” Harry said. He was grateful he’d rehearsed the words. He was speaking solely from instinct – he was too stunned to try and form any coherent new thought at the moment. 

The demon looked down at the teddy, and then back to Harry. “Continue.”

“My son – Carter – he’s sick. Very sick. The doctors say there’s no chance of him getting well.” 

The demon gave a small, sad smile. “Be assured, if your son will join me soon, then no harm shall come to him. Only those who have committed evil deeds in their life have to fear the underworld.” Harry’s heart stopped at her words. “The righteous – and children are always among them – are safe and content in my world.” 

“Be at ease, and know that no harm will come to your son.” The demon smiled, clearly thinking that their transaction was over, that that was all Harry had come to ask.

“Wait!” Harry said, his voice coming out in a scream, so fearful was he of losing his chance, of the demon misunderstanding why he had called her here. “I – I don’t just want reassurances.” 

“I’m afraid that’s all I give,” the demon said. “A balance must be paid in the sums of the universe, and cheating it of a death will not end happily.” 

“I don’t want to cheat anyone,” Harry said. “I want to trade.” 

The demon stared at him, eyes going wide. 

“It’s been – quite a long time since I’ve heard someone ask for that,” she said. “There are people that want to ask for it, but lack the skills to summon me. There are people that summon me, but don’t want to trade. But you – you are the first in a very, very long time that has had that peculiar combination of summoning and a desire for a trade.”

“My life for my son’s,” Harry said. 

“A trade…the scales would balance,” the demon said, thinking it over. 

There was a long pause, where Harry’s life hung in the balance. Harry had to either sacrifice his life or his heart – because if he lost Carter, his heart would break, and nothing would ever be able to put it back together.

“I will grant the trade,” she said, and Harry nearly collapsed in relief. 

“If I could ask, just – just one more thing, if it’s in your mercy,” Harry said. 

The demon raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised he’d ask for more. 

“That bear – it’s my son’s favorite. If I could return it before I go?” 

The demon’s face was full of surprise, and then she gave a smile. Not the small, amused one, or the sad one, but one that lit up the room. 

“I will grant that favor,” she said. “I will even help you reach him more easily.” She extended a hand. Harry stepped forward, and, attempting to control his shaking, put his hand in hers. Her skin was warm and soft, the opposite of what he was thinking she would feel like. 

Then they were stepping through the shadows, and in less than a second they went from a room in an abandoned building to a hospital ward. The demon looked around, sadness in her eyes. 

“So many I will see soon,” she said quietly. “The war shortened many lives. It ripples throughout the years.” 

Harry nodded, but his eyes were focused on one bed in a corner of the room. In it, a little boy was sleeping. Next to him, half in a chair, half lying on the bed, was a woman with tear stained cheeks. Both slept, although neither looked at peace. 

“Your wife?” The woman said, nodding to the woman. 

“Yes,” Harry said. “I haven’t been a good husband. We haven’t been in love since…since before Carter was ill.” 

The demon handed him back the bear. He took it, and then kissed its fuzzy head, hugging it tightly to him, hoping that some of his love, his essence, would stay in it, so that when Carter held it, he would be able to smell his father’s scent, and think of him. 

He gently knelt down and placed the bear in his sleeping son’s arms, and kissed his soft head. Then he turned away, trying to see through his tears. 

A gentle hand took his and helped him walk away from the bed. Befoe Harry knew what was happening, they were surrounded by shadows. “I know goodbye is painful,” the demon said. “But it will not be forever. Your son will live a good many years, thanks to your trade, but eventually he will be welcomed into my realm.”

Harry shook his head. “I’m afraid I won’t see him. Carter will grow up to be a good man and I…” he looked around at the shifting shadows, “I am a bad one. And bad ones get punished in your realm.” He gave her a weak smile. “You said so yourself.” 

“I did, and they do,” the demon said. “But you, Harry Greenwood, James Westwall, are not a bad man.” 

Harry looked at her. “But if you know both my names, then you know –“

“That you stole and robbed, held people at gunpoint and incited panic? That you used the alias Harry Greenwood to get away with these crimes? Yes. But I also know that you did that for the sake of your son’s treatment, to get the money so he could get healthy. That your soul was tormented for every robbery you committed and every time you pointed a gun. And then, believing you would have nothing but an eternity of pain and punishment awaiting you, you traded yourself for your son.” The demon gave him a sad smile. “Your actions were wrong, but the root of them was love, not evil. You never rejoiced in pain, closed your eyes in ignorance.” 

“There will be a penance to be paid, but it will be paid in assisting me in running the underworld for some years, not in eternal torment.” 

The shadows disappeared, and suddenly Harry was standing in what looked to be an underground cavern. The cavern’s ceiling - what parts of it he could see - was covered in glistening white stalagmites. The cave walls inlaid with precious stones, growing in their natural setting. In the distance was a castle, carved entirely out of onyx. Harry could hear a loud barking. 

The demon sighed. “Maggie is playing with Cerberus again.” Still holding his hand, she began to walk towards the castle.

“Maggie?” 

“My sister.” 

“Demons have sisters?” Harry asked, only to blush once the question had popped out. “My apologies – I didn’t meant to be rude.”

“It’s quite alright. And yes, demons have sisters. Two, to be precise. I think they’ll like you.” As they got closer to the castle, she stopped. “I almost forgot. Only citizens of the underworld are allowed to know my name. As you are now a citizen, that privilege is extended to you.” 

Harry wanted to say that he was honored, but his mind was filled with what mysterious name the queen of the dead would be called.

“Macy.” 

“Macy?”

“Do you have some issue with my name?” the queen asked, but in a gently teasing tone, placing her hands on her hips.

“No, it’s just...it’s so…ordinary.”

The demon laughed, and held out her hand. Harry took it, and they continued walking towards the great castle, gleaming darkly in the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry sighed as the bag was pulled off of his head. He looked around – a deserted house, the floor covered with chalk etchings. In front of him, a man with a knife in his face. 

“So, I bet you’re wondering why you’re here?” The man asked.

“I assume it’s because you have a craving for murder and dismemberment,” Harry said. 

The man leaned in close, causing Harry to tilt his head away. “I know who you are,” the man said. 

“Oh no,” Harry said, deadpan. 

The man raised his eyebrows. “I know whose you are.” 

“This really isn’t going to turn out how you think it will,” Harry said.

“Shut up,” the man said, holding a knife against his throat.

“What is that supposed to do?” Harry said. “I’m dead. I’m on the mortal plane, sure, but if you kill me, I’ll just go back down to the Underworld.” 

The man drove his knife into Harry’s side. Harry looked down at it, unconcerned. “Well that’s unfortunate,” he said. 

As Harry tried to make himself comfortable as possible, bound to a chair and with a stab wound, the man lit the candles in the circle. 

“No, stop, don’t,” Harry said. “Don’t do this and have it wildly backfire on yourself while I look on, amused, from the sidelines.” 

“Goddess of Death! I have your lover. Show yourself to me, or I will strip the flesh from his bones.”

“Again, what do you think that’s going to do? I’ll just die again.” 

“I will torture him until he begs for your sweet mercy all over again – “

“That’s exactly what I’m doing now –“ 

The flames of the candles came together, forming a pillar of fire in the middle of the circle. The pillar flashed and blazed, eventually retreating to smoke. And out of that smoke stepped a woman. 

“That never gets old,” Harry remarked.

The woman’s eyes roamed over the musty room, the man with the knife, and her lover. Her eyes flashed once as she saw her lover tied to a chair, a gaping wound in his side.

“Hello sweetheart! How’s your day been going?” Harry called out. 

“You have summoned me, Godric Cole” the goddess said. 

“Yes, yes I summoned you,” Goeric said, holding the knife out in front of him. The goddess looked down at it, unimpressed. “Goddess, I have your lover –“

“You already said that,” Harry said.

“Goddess, I have your lover. I will keep him –“

“Fat chance.”

“I will keep him unless you grant me a boon.” 

“You ask a god for a boon?” the goddess said. 

“I don’t ask. I demand.”

“Famous last words.” Harry interjected. 

“Very well, mortal. What would you desire of me?” 

Godric’s eyes widened, as though he couldn’t believe how well this was going. “Immortal life.” 

“Oh for – didn’t you do your homework? She’s the Goddess of Death! She only controls things that deal with death! If you want immortal life you should have summoned the God of Life, you idiot!” 

“Goddess, I ask that you make your lover shut up before I rip his tongue out with my bare hands.” 

The goddess looked over to Harry. Only someone who knew her well would have detected the hint of a smile on her face. “I must ask for silence while I consider this boon.” 

“Of course dear, you work. I’ll wait here.” Harry settled patiently back in the chair, quite content to watch his lover and her, rarely provoked but quite dazzling, wrath. 

Macy looked down at Godric, who was eagerly looking up at her, the knife still clutched in his hands. “My lover is quite right. I am the Goddess of Death, not the Goddess of Life. I cannot grant you immortal life, as that is not my domain.” 

His jaw dropped, and his face turned red. “You – Well, then get the God of Life to give me immortal life,” Godric said. 

“You DARE try to make me your messenger?” the goddess said, her voice growing as loud as thunder. “You try to command a god?” She shook with anger. “You have tried to mess with the scales of life and death, wanting a fortune with no trade in return. You have shed blood and hurt souls on this quest. And you have harmed the one I love most. If there is any sense left in your mind, then you will put down your knife, and go into the world to try to amend your ills. It is your last chance.” 

He just stared at Macy. Then he nodded. “All right goddess. All right.” He put the knife down at her feet and back away, half bowed. As he passed Harry, Godric pulled out a knife out from his boot, straightened up, and dove it into Harry’s chest. 

Harry blinked down at it. “Hm. Love, this wasn’t one of your favorite shirts anyway, was it?” 

The goddess stared at them in fury. Shadows crept past her and curled around Godric’s ankles. With a wave of her hand, the shadows yanked him backwards into the darkness.

The goddess floated over to Harry, releasing him with flash of an onyx bladed knife. “My Harry.”

Harry nuzzled into Macy. “Hello there dear. Sorry to keep you waiting.” 

Macy gave a light laugh. “24 hours. I gave you only 24 hours. …only you could find trouble just a day in the mortal world.” 

“In my defense, how did I know there’d be someone stupid enough to try and ask Death for immortal life?” 

They both looked down at the blood on Harry’s shirt. Macy smiled. “I’m afraid to say that you’re dead, and must be taken back down into the Underworld. How awful.” 

“I believe that was on my travel plans anyway,” Harry said. 

Macy smiled, and the two moved off into the shadows, going back to their kingdom. “So, my dear one, how was Carter’s wedding?” 

“Lovely. Gave me a few ideas for our own… Is Maggie still set on Cerberus being the ringbearer?”


End file.
